Shaking Things Up
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Levi took in a deep breath. This wasn't something he really wanted to admit. Only Mick and Brody knew because they had been observant enough to put the pieces together themselves and confront him about it. Levi had barely even admitted it to himself yet. Telling Sarah's girlfriend was going to be more difficult than those combined.
1. The Earthquake

_Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Ninja Steel._

Levi was in his school office, busy writing music. He had taken a break from touring, and in that time, to stay close to the Rangers, he had taken a job at their school teaching music. Even though he rarely got to play, it felt great to be in his field once more.

However, teaching was a lot harder than he anticipated. He thought since he was used to entertaining a crowd of thousands every night on stage, that a group of twenty kids would be easy to manage. However, on his first day, he was barely able to do any of the teaching he had planned. All his students were too busy getting his autograph, asking for pictures, tweeting about him or uploading their pictures to Instagram, asking him about his tours, about who his songs were about, if he had a girlfriend, if he was interested in dating any of his students, if he would write a song about them… the list went on! Levi had no idea the teenagers could be so… distractable.

The second day wasn't much better. Levi did get some teaching in, but there were still requests for autographs, still more pictures and still some questions. Eventually, the novelty of a super star teaching did begin to fade, but it was replaced with even more distractions. Levi had to ask a couple of students to stop making out in the middle of his lesson. He had to wake one student up from a nap. He had to break up a verbal fight between two students, and he had to tell one boy to stop licking his armpit.

He found himself muttering the question "Why?" or "How?" and "How on earth could you think that was a good idea?" on a regular basis. He thought, since high school students were getting ready for adult life, they would be more mature, but often, he caught them acting like eight-year-olds.

However, no matter how tough it was, Levi did like his job. He liked that he did get to share what he knew (between all the disruptions). His students, when they were behaving and listening to his lessons, were all good kids.

Most of them, at least. Something about Kelly left a bad taste in his mouth. It wasn't just _something_ though. Levi knew exactly what it was. Kelly had what he wanted.

He had spoken about Sarah with Brody once already. Brody had been wise enough to consider the option that Levi potentially didn't like Sarah as Sarah, but he liked the idea of dating someone who treated him like a regular Joe. Someone who didn't allow him any excuses or privileges just because he was famous, and since she had been the only girl on the team not in a relationship, she was his only option. Brody had warned Levi that maybe he liked his options, rather than the option herself.

So he tried to move on. He wanted friends and she needed friends. He told himself that dating wasn't right for either of them and that, when the moment was right, it would happen. He tried not to let himself think that it would happen with Sarah specifically, but in his heart, that was how he imagined it.

Then Kelly showed up, and suddenly, she was all Sarah wanted. They would hang out after training, help each other with homework, and according to the other teachers in the school, they would sit next to each other in class. Apparently, they were a cute couple that everyone was rooting for.

Kelly had also been given some passes that Levi felt he never received. Sarah had been furious with him when he invaded her privacy by writing and then performing a song about her, without her knowledge or permission. She had given him hell for it. However, when Kelly committed the more serious offense of outing Sarah to the whole school, it seemed like Sarah was quick to not only forgive and forget, but then start dating Kelly as well.

Kelly also didn't have the same roadblocks as Levi did. She was a sixteen-year-old student, just like Sarah. Their relationship wouldn't be questioned. Levi was a twenty-year-old teacher. He couldn't date Sarah without raising a few flags from people. He'd never hurt her. He'd never do anything to make her uncomfortable.

So Kelly left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Knock, knock," he heard and turned around to find Kelly. It was as if his thoughts had summoned her, though that really hadn't been his intentioned. She was standing just outside his office at school, holding up her most recent test. Sarah and Kelly were in mostly the same classes, the only difference in their schedules was that Sarah had shop class with the Rangers and Mick, and Kelly had music with Levi. She showed her test to Levi. The big, red C he had given her made him feel a little happy.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Can you explain my test?" Kelly said and took a seat in his empty chair.

"I can't favour you because you're a friend," he told her with a shake of his head. "I gave you the mark I think you deserve."

"I don't expect you to favour me," Kelly said. "I'm glad to see you don't, it's just… I really don't understand how I got some of the questions wrong. I played piano, you know, before my parents kicked me out and stuff, so I know I understand music theory. I'm a bit disappointed."

"You probably know more than you think," Levi said with a shrug. "But maybe the stress of everything going on got to you a little bit on the day of the test and…"

"I thought that might be it," Kelly glanced down at her paper and shook her head, "But I read over my answers again and… I really don't get where I went wrong. Can you help?"

"There are no retests, but there will be more tests. Just study harder for the next one."

"I will, but I was just hoping, I guess…

"Kelly, I'm really busy," he said. "I don't have time to help."

"Alright," Kelly answered and then left the test with him, "Um, Mrs. Foster signed it. I know it's supposed to be a parent or guardian, and they aren't officially my guardians yet but Principal Hastings said…"

"It's fine," Levi said.

"Okay," Kelly was about to leave his office when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It turned her around and she found herself looking up as Principal Hastings, who then pushed her back inside Levi's office.

"What's this I hear? One of my teachers, too busy to teach? My, my, Mr. Weston, this just won't do!"

"Principal Hastings," Levi turned around in his chair and somewhat covered up his music sheet. When Principal Hastings had hired him to work as the music teacher, it had been under the agreement that he could bring his music career into the school with him by writing songs and planning concerts with the school to keep students engaged in music. However, she had always been clear that his first job anytime he was in the school was to be a teacher. This meant his students needed to come first. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm the principal," she said. "And as principal, I do feel I need to remind you that at Summer Cove High, teachers teach!"

"Yes, I know, but…"

"Mr. Weston, I understand you're a very busy man but you promised me you were committed to this school; to the musical education of these… teenagers."

She gave Kelly a slight look, then shifted her attention back to Levi, "So, understand that I'm a little surprised to hear you turning away an eager student. If she wants to learn from her mistakes, you need to help her."

"One of the rules in my class is there are no retests…"

"Well, it's a stupid rule," Principal Hastings said bluntly. "What does that prepare the students for?"

"You don't get do overs in real life."

"Well, I'm very sorry that's the life you led, but in my experience, life is all about second chances. We humans, especially the teenagers, are riddled with mistakes. Some of our most promising minds and athletes never would have made it very far without second chances. You, Mr. Weston, never would have had a music career had you never received second chances."

"You're right, Principal Hastings."

"So if a student is willing to learn, you must be willing to teach," Principal Hastings told him. "I expect Kelly to receive at least a B on her next test, Mr. Weston. I expect you to help her reach that goal."

"Yes, Principal Hastings," Levi sighed as she left. Kelly looked to Levi apologetically.

"Sorry. I… I didn't know she was there. You don't have to help, if you're too busy. I'll just study harder, like you said."

As Kelly turned to leave, Levi let out a sigh. While he didn't appreciate that Principal Hastings had gotten involved, he knew it wasn't Kelly's fault. And though a part of him did feel mad with her, he knew that also wasn't her fault. She had only done what made her happy. She hadn't stolen Sarah from him. Sarah had chosen her.

And now, all she wanted was help on a test that, if Levi was honest with himself, he had marked a little harsh. So he waved her into his office, picked up her test and promised he would look it over again with her. She made her way to the chair but just as she was about to sit down, the ground shook. Kelly put her hand on the wall to steady herself while Levi gripped the arms on his chair and looked around at the papers and books on the shelves around him. He hoped nothing would com crashing down. Moments later, when the trembling stopped, he looked to Kelly.

"Lots of earthquakes in California, huh?"

"This is a lot even for us," she said. The ground had been trembling now for a few days off and on, with each shake feeling a little worse than the last. It had made the news, with some experts claiming the earthquakes seemed unnatural. "You don't think there might be something going on, do you?"

"I couldn't tell you," Levi said and then as he picked up Kelly's test, the ground trembled again. This time, it started out as a small shake, but it started to grow faster and harder by the second. The books and papers fell off Levi's shelf, and then the shelf itself fell. Levi covered his head and saw Kelly doing the same. When cracks started to appear in the walls, Levi knew he was in trouble. He reached for his Power Star but before he could use it to morph, the trembling ground caused him to fall over.

Suddenly, the ceiling came in. Levi covered his head as he was pelted with falling debris.

-Ninja-Steel-

The Rangers were all on the floor by the time the shaking stopped. Since it was lunch time, they had all been in the Ranger base, which Mick and RedBot had reinforced, just in case of an attack. This meant that while there was some structural damage, very little had threatened to fall on the Rangers and crush them.

"Is everyone okay?" Brody called out as he crawled out from under a table. Preston came out behind him, nodding. Sarah, Calvin and Hayley crawled out from under the computer desk while Mick transformed back into his human form from a rock and RedBot checked his systems.

"I think we're all okay," Calvin nodded. "Are we all here?"

"Levi's in his office," Hayley reminded her boyfriend. "He was working on the concert."

Brody brought his data comm to his mouth, "Levi? You there?"

"I think we were right to assume there is something up with these earthquakes," Mick announced and he checked the city map. "It seems they're originating from different points in the city, all following a straight line."

"A straight line?" Sarah asked and went to check. She noticed too that the source of the earthquakes seemed a bit odd. While she had never studied them before, the fact that they were all following a predictable line had to be suspicious. "Wait a minute, these last two occurred in the same spot."

"Right here?" Preston asked her and Sarah nodded her head.

"Do you think someone's targeting the school?"

"Guys, Levi isn't answering," Brody announced to his team. Just a couple seconds later, the ground shook a third time.


	2. Stays In The Bubble

Just when Levi thought it was over, the ground started to tremble again. This one didn't last as long or feel as powerful, but it threatened the bubble Levi found himself in. He continued to cover his head with his hands and prayed that this would end. When it finally did, he looked at his surroundings, trying to see if he could find a way out. Since it was dark, he assumed that meant there was no light coming in, which meant there was no opening for him to escape from.

Gently, he tried to create one. He pushed a heavy piece of concrete. That's when he heard her cry.

"OW! Stop! Stop! Stop!"

"Sorry," he said and gently let the concrete go. He turned to the source of the noise, though he couldn't see anything. "Kelly?"

"Who else?" she asked. "I think I'm stuck."

"We're both stuck," Levi stated. He thought of trying to push somewhere else, but with Kelly buried with him in the rubble and no way to see where she physically was, he didn't want to chance it.

"Like really stuck," Kelly said. "My leg really hurts."

"We'll get out of here," Levi promised her, though he wasn't sure he would be able to follow through on that promise. He had lost his Power Star and now couldn't see. The only concrete he could easily push seemed to hurt Kelly. However, there was still hope, "If my manager and crew don't hear from me soon, they'll worry. They'll know I'm in the school. They'll come looking for me and they'll find us."

"If they aren't hurt," Kelly said. "Who knows how much damage this earthquake caused."

"It'll be fine, Kelly."

"I know," Kelly answered. "I just wish we could contact the others, you know. I wish I knew if Sarah was okay, and if she knows where to look for us."

"She's looking for you," Levi said and hoped it sounded more reassuring that it did in his head. "You're her girlfriend."

"I know," Kelly said and from the tone of her voice, Levi could tell she was smiling. It made him sick how Kelly, without trying, had beaten him. She had everything Sarah wanted. "It's still a little weird to hear that."

Levi didn't answer her. A moment later, Kelly spoke again, "Hey, maybe we can go over my test now. You know, since there's nothing better to do anyway, and keeping busy is better than…"

"I don't know how much oxygen we have down here," Levi said. "We better not waste it."

 _Shut up_ was what he wanted to say. She was driving him nuts, and they had only _just_ been trapped. If he was going to be here for a few minutes, never mind a few hours, she needed to tone it down.

"Oh, okay," Kelly said.

There was silence for a few minutes. Neither Levi or Kelly could hear anything that would indicate if someone was looking for them, or if there was anyone around. Eventually, Kelly couldn't take it anymore.

"Are you upset with me or something?" she asked and Levi again looked in the direction of her voice.

"Why would you say that?" he had been certain he had done a good job of hiding his feelings.

"It's just, when I first started in your class, you told me that if I had any questions, needed any extra help, or just wanted to talk music, you'd be happy to help," Kelly said. "Now, I know I can't do well on every single test, and I probably didn't do well because of everything that's been going on at home and with Sarah but… I really do want to do better next time and I don't really know where I went wrong. But it seems like you don't want to help me."

"I'm busy."

"I could have waited until after school or something," Kelly said.

"Why didn't you suggest that, then?"

"Because it sounded like you didn't want to help me at all," Kelly told him. "So what did I do? I promise, I didn't mean it and I'll make it up to you once we're out of here."

"Kelly…"

"Come on, I'm tough," Kelly said with a little chuckle. "My parents kick me out and I'm still standing. Whatever it is, I can handle it."

"There's nothing going on."

"Are you uncomfortable with me and Sarah?" Kelly asked him. "I know what the country scene is like. I know it's not exactly the most progressive genre of music, and the people can be even less accepting. Is that it?"

Levi did have a problem with Kelly and Sarah, but it wasn't the problem Kelly was talking about.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"What makes you uncomfortable?" Kelly asked.

"Didn't you hear me?"

"I did, but you're being really dismissive and we're in a bit of a crisis," Kelly said. "Normally I would just ignore you, like I do everyone else, but since you're part of the team that's supposed to have Sarah's back, I want to get this out in the open now. If she can't rely on you to have her back completely then…"

"I have her back."

"So then what's the problem?" Kelly asked. Levi sighed loudly and shook his head.

"Nothing."

"Levi…"

"We're wasting oxygen," he said. "Trust me, Kelly, the problem isn't with you or Sarah."

"So then what is it?"

"Can we just wait for help in silence?" he asked her. Kelly sighed loudly and then a moment later spoke again.

"Have you tried the data comm?"

"It's busted."

"That sucks," she said and then grunted loudly before letting out another sigh. This one sounded more painful, but Levi didn't ask. Instead, he focused on his own thoughts. He was getting petty and he knew it. This needed to stop.

"I don't have a problem with you or Sarah," he said and he hoped Kelly was still listening to him. "Not in that way, at least."

"In what way, then?" Kelly asked.

"Have you heard my latest song?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Think about the lyrics for a bit and tell me if you don't recognize it."

"Did you plagiarize?"

"No," Levi shook his head. "Just take a minute to think, alright?"

The silence that followed was Kelly was thinking. He knew she liked English and reading so he was sure she could figure out the meaning of his song. When she gasped, he gave a nod, "Familiar, right?"

"It's Sarah's story. Oh my God! You wrote a song for Sarah! I'm so jealous."

"She never told you how pissed off it made her?"

"Pissed off?" Kelly asked. "Levi Weston writes a song for her, and that pisses her off? If you ever wrote a song for me, I think I'd die of happiness."

"She inspired me," Levi said. "Her story touched me when I found out, but she wasn't happy that I wrote and played it without her permission. She chewed me out for it. That's when I realized something."

"You ask permission before you write about others?"

Levi took in a deep breath. This wasn't something he really wanted to admit. Only Mick and Brody knew because they had been observant enough to put the pieces together themselves and confront him about it. Levi had barely even admitted it to himself yet. Telling Sarah's girlfriend was going to be more difficult than those combined. Still, if he had any hope of letting go of this pettiness before it consumed him, it needed to be done. He didn't want to be that guy that sulked about a girl that was never his in the first place.

"She and I went out on a bit of a date," Levi said. "It was part of the apology process. Well, it was more of a date for me than it was for her, I guess."

"What do you mean by date?"

"It was just one," Levi assured her. "I think all she expected was the one. I was kind of hoping it would turn into a little bit more."

"You have a crush on Sarah?"

"I think so."

"Oh."

"Brody thinks I have a crush on the idea of liking Sarah," Levi said. "I tried to convince myself that it wasn't true. That it was just the idea of dating her that I liked, and not Sarah herself but… since you two started going out… I've been a bit… jealous."

"Did you C me on purpose?"

"I'd like to think I didn't," Levi said. "But… I'll have a look at your test again and we'll go through it together, just to be sure."

"So you like Sarah?"

"Yeah."

"I guess I can't blame you for that," Kelly said. "She's hot."

Levin let out a little chuckle, "Yeah, she is."

"Gross. You're her teacher," Kelly reminded him. "I don't think you're allowed to say that."

Levi shook his head. Technically, he wasn't. But he liked Sarah before becoming a teacher, that was how he justified it to himself. That, and the fact that since Sarah wasn't in his classes, technically he wasn't her teacher at all.

"Sarah and I are happy together," Kelly said to him. "I mean, I know we've had some tough times and stuff but… I really like her. She makes me happy and I'm pretty sure she feels the same about me. If she dated you, even once, and nothing happened, maybe that's a sign that it wasn't meant to be with you two."

Levi nodded. Kelly did make sense. Sarah had him in the palm of her hand and like most girls, she did have a crush on him. If she wanted the relationship to go further than friends, all she had to do was say so and she would have had him.

She didn't. In fact, she turned to someone else. He wasn't a thought on her mind anymore – at least not romantically.

"You're right."

"I am sorry that didn't work out for you," Kelly said. "I know you'll find someone else, though."

Kelly reached her hand out and pat Levi on the side. He assumed she was going for his leg, but since she couldn't see in the dark she had missed.

"You deserve to be happy too," Kelly told him. "So promise you won't sabotage my relationship and I promise this will stay between us. It'll be like nothing ever happened."

"I promise," Levi said and took her hand. He gave it a squeeze. "And I'm sorry."

"For what?" Kelly asked.

"I… I think I did C you on purpose," Levi said. "Out of jealousy. It wasn't right."

"Hey, no harm, no foul," Kelly joked and, somehow, she must have moved because Levi felt their bubble shift. It wasn't much and nothing fell on him or threatened to crush him, but Kelly let out a very painful scream. Levi knew he had to do something.


	3. Just In Time

As it turned out, the earthquakes weren't natural. The Rangers, in their search for the cause, found a monster beneath the school. He had intentionally shaken up the ground, causing the building to collapse and in their battle, he admitted that it was part of Ripcon's plan to destroy the Rangers.

So they destroyed the monster, first at his regular size, then with the Megazord. When they fight was over and they were back on the school site, they saw the fire department, paramedics and the police were already on the scene. Students and teachers were being helped from the debris and either taken to their parents and loved ones, or taken to one of the many ambulances nearby. News reporters were setting up to cover the story.

"This place is a mess," Hayley said. Calvin gently nudged her.

"Hey, no school for a while. Always an upside."

"This reminds me of when Galvanax's clones tore through the city," Preston said and then looked to Sarah as he immediately regretted his words. "Sorry…"

"Hopefully there's not as much damage," Sarah said and checked her phone. Jenny had texted her while she had been in battle, so Sarah thought it was best to reply to her now and assure her she was fine. Once she sent off that text, she checked her messages from Kelly. There were none that were recent, which worried Sarah. She called Kelly and waited for an answer.

" _Yes!"_ was the reply on the other end, but it didn't sound like Kelly. Sarah's stomach turned.

"Who's this?"

" _It's Levi! Thank goodness you called! I've been looking everywhere for our phones! Thank god it works!"_

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked. As much as she hated to say it, she was only asking to be polite. Her real concern was Kelly. Why didn't Kelly answer her own phone?

" _I'm fine, but I'm here with Kelly,"_ Levi said. _"I can't see what's wrong with her but she's in bad shape. You have to find us."_

"Where are you?"

" _We're trapped. We were in my office."_

Sarah covered the mouth piece and looked to her friends, "Levi and Kelly are trapped in his office."

"On it," they said and walked carefully through and over some of the debris to make their way down to the hall where Levi's office was. Sarah kept Levi on the phone. She needed to keep him talking and she wanted to know as much as possible.

"Can I talk to Kelly?"

There was some noise on the other end, then Kelly's weak voice came through, _"Sarah?"_

"Are you okay?"

" _No,"_ Kelly answered. _"My leg's stuck. I can't feel it anymore."_

"The others are coming, okay," Sarah promised her. "Just, pass me back to Levi, alright?"

" _Sarah?"_ it was Levi's voice.

"You have to help the others find you and fast," Sarah said. "We need to get you out of there."

"We're in an air pocket," Levi said. "I don't know how stable it is. If I try to get out, I might crush us both."

Suddenly, Sarah heard a loud scream on the phone and then a crash.

"Levi? Kelly?" there was no answer. Sarah rushed into the school and found the other Rangers just as they were digging out the debris. She pulled on Brody as he and Calvin tried to lift a piece of concrete, "Stop it!"

The boys were halfway through lifting the concrete, but they were both stopped. They looked to each other, wondering if they could set the concrete down. Even with the boost of strength from their Power Stars, it was still heavy. Sarah went back to her phone.

"Levi?"

" _Sarah, whatever's happening, it has to stop. This place is about to collapse."_

"I stopped it," Sarah promised him. "But we need to do something to get you guys out."

Another scream could be heard, and not just through the phone. Sarah peered under the concrete in Brody and Calvin's arms. She couldn't see far into it, but she knew the scream had come form under there. They had to be close.

" _I know. Sarah's there's a little light coming in now. I can't see much, but whatever the guys are doing, you might have to let them continue."_

"I've got a different idea," Sarah said and suddenly ran off. Calvin and Brody looked terrified.

"Can we set this down?" Brody asked but Sarah was back too quickly and shook her head. She strapped on her helmet and her wrist, elbow and knee pads.

"You need to hold it up until I get them out," she said.

"You're going in there?" Preston asked.

"Are you stupid?" Hayley added.

"Every time that concrete block moves, Kelly's hurt," Sarah said. "You need to hold it still and they need to get out. I'm small enough I can squeeze in."

"And do what exactly?" Hayley asked.

"Sarah, we can't hold this for long," Calvin said. "Either you discuss this now and we put it down, or you just go ahead with your plan and we'll all discuss how stupid it is later."

"Going in," Sarah said. She hung up her phone and turned on the flashlight app. The tunnel was tight, but as she expected she was just small enough to squeeze her way through. She followed the sound of Kelly's pained groans, which though they weren't good, they were better than her screams. Eventually, her flashlight made out Levi's face.

"Thank god," he said. Sarah pulled herself into the air pocket, opening the hole a little wider, though dropping some dust and dirt onto Levi's legs.

"You might be able to squeeze through," she told him. "Go first. I'll be right behind to help if you get stuck."

Levi nodded his head and trusting Sarah had a plan for Kelly, he squeezed himself through the hole. It was very tight, and he was stuck in some places, but he could wiggle his way towards the light until, eventually, Preston and Hayley reached for him and pulled him out.

"Sarah?" Preston called into the tunnel once Levi was out.

"Coming!" Sarah called back. Inside the air pocket, she used her flashlight to examine Kelly. She was laying on her stomach with most of her body exposed, except for one leg, which was pinned under a piece of concrete from her mid-shin.

"You don't have a lot of time," Preston called to her. "They're going to drop it soon."

"Hold on!" Sarah shouted. She knew Calvin and Brody were doing their best, and she knew they had their limits. She couldn't allow them to think it was okay to give up, though. She needed them to push right up until they gave out. It was the only way she would get Kelly to safety.

"It's going to hurt like a bitch," she told her girlfriend, who was only just awake enough to understand. "I think I can lift the block, but you need to pull yourself out, okay?"

"It hurts so bad," Kelly complained.

"You'll be fine real soon, okay," Sarah assured her. "On three, you need to pull yourself out. Okay? One…"

Sarah propped herself against the concrete. "Two…" she positioned her hands so when she pushed, it would lift. "Three!" she pushed the concrete as hard as she could and held it up as long as she could before her muscles gave out. When it crashed down some debris dropped from the ceiling and there was a loud scream. Sarah was worried she dropped the concrete back down on Kelly's leg, but when she shined the light on her girlfriend, she saw Kelly had pulled herself out in time. "Good girl," Sarah said.

She looked to the tunnel. By allowing Levi to go through first, it was now wider than when she entered, but it wasn't wide enough for her and Kelly to pass through together.

Sarah removed her helmet and placed it on Kelly's head, "Now comes the hard part, but then you're done, okay?"

"Sarah…"

"Let's get out of here," Sarah buckled the helmet and helped Kelly to the tunnel. "It's gonna hurt, but you need to drag yourself out of here. I'll be right behind you. I'll give you a push if you need help. But move fast, okay."

"You'll be right behind me?"

"So close you can feel it," Sarah nodded.

Kelly knew she had one dead leg. She couldn't move it, it would be of no use to her. But she had three other working limbs. She had to use them to drag herself out.

She crawled through the tunnel, scraping her stomach on the floor and her arms and legs on the sides. She's have more cuts and bruises from the escape than from the earthquake, but she knew she had to do this to make it out. When she stopped midway through to scream out in pain, she felt Sarah's hand on her leg.

"Keep going," Sarah's begged her and Kelly suddenly realized her position. Sarah would be last out and their escape tunnel wasn't solid. If she took even a second too long and the tunnel collapsed, Sarah would be hurt too. Kelly was so close to the end. She could see Preston and Hayley reaching out to take her hands. Fighting through the pain, she dragged her body forward and held out both hands. Preston and Hayley grabbed them and pulled her out quickly.

"Sarah!" Brody shouted. He knew it was only her left and he could feel the concrete slipping. Hayley was already taking Kelly over to the paramedics so it would be just Preston pulling Sarah out, which meant it wouldn't go quickly. If she wasn't right behind Kelly, he was worried he would drop the block on her. "Come on!"

Sarah moved quickly through the tunnel. Both Levi and Kelly had slightly bigger frames than her so she had more room to move on her way out than she did on her way in. She managed to catch Preston's hand and he pulled as hard as he could, dragging her out of the tunnel and clearing her from the concrete block just seconds before Calvin and Brody were forced to drop it.


	4. The Prognosis

It wasn't the ideal situation, but it was better than nothing. Hayley sat in the hospital waiting room with her parents who were trying to fill out Kelly's forms while they waited for an update.

As soon as Kelly was unpinned, Hayley knew she would need help. Her leg was bruised and misshaped, indicating broken bones. The swelling had also been unbelievable. The whole time in the ambulance, Hayley was praying they had pulled Kelly out in time.

Once they arrived at the hospital, Hayley was assaulted by staff about an emergency contact for Kelly. They needed to contact her parents, since Kelly had already passed out from the pain and wouldn't be able to give consent herself. Hayley had to explain how Kelly had been kicked out of her house, and she likely wouldn't want her parents to show up now to help her. It wasn't easy convincing the nurse to call her parents instead, but Hayley had promised it would be better.

Only now that left the Fosters with the puzzle that was Kelly's medical history. Hell, even her date of birth was a difficult question. They had only just taken her into their home, and hadn't even begun the process of becoming her official guardians. They filled out what they could, which wasn't much, and handed the form back to the nurse. She looked to it in annoyance, and then told them to wait for an update.

The other Rangers joined shortly after. Levi was sporting some new bruises and bandages from his own injuries and Sarah's cuts and scraps had been cleaned off. Hayley's parents asked Sarah if she had some information on Kelly's medical history and Sarah figured she would take a shot filling out the form and took it back from the nurse. She at least knew Kelly's birthdate.

Calvin sat next to Hayley in the chairs and he put his hand on her leg. He squeezed gently. Hayley and Kelly's relationship hadn't gotten off to a great start, with Kelly outing Sarah to the whole school. However, since that was now in the past and since Kelly had now moved into her bedroom, Hayley was finding herself growing fond of Kelly. They were starting to become good friends and Calvin was sure, if the living arrangements didn't change, they would grow to be like sisters.

"We did it," he said. "We got her out of there. She'll be fine."

"I hope so," Hayley whispered.

"We lectured Sarah about her stupid plan. Figured I'd save you having to worry about that as well. Though, you must admit, there wasn't much else we could have done, and it worked."

"Barely," Hayley said, then turned to Calvin with a heavy sigh, "I hope you know, I never want you doing something stupid like that for me."

"Hayls…"

"I mean it," Hayley looked him right in the eyes and gave him that glare that meant she was serious. "If I'm in trouble, I don't want to have to worry about you too. What Sarah did needed to be done, but she risked both being crushed and both being in trouble.

"It was risky," Calvin admitted and he knew Hayley was right. He had mainly been the one to chew Sarah out for choosing to go into the hole with nothing more than a helmet and some padding. "But it needed to be done."

"I know," Hayley said. "I'm just saying, you can't do anything stupid like that."

"I'm getting you out of trouble," Calvin stated. He knew what Hayley meant. She didn't want him to hurt himself trying to save her. She didn't want him to risk his life recklessly. While it was needed in Kelly's case, and while it had worked out for the best, if anything had gone wrong, it was likely the Rangers would lose three friends, instead of two.

"Be smart about it," Hayley made him promise. Calvin nodded and kissed the side of her head.

Eventually, a doctor made his way out of the room and asked for Kelly's family. Mr. and Mrs. Foster stood up. Sarah was quick to make her way over as well. Mrs. Foster put her arms around the pink Ranger, comforting her as the doctor spoke. She hoped for good news, but she was ready for the worst-case scenario.

"Kelly was showing signs of compartment syndrome," the doctor explained. "We got to her in time, and we were able to save the leg, but we needed to perform a fasciotomy."

"A what?" Mr. Foster asked.

"A fasciotomy," the doctor explained, "We had to cut into her fascia, or the collagen, and remove some of it. It should relieve the pressure. We got the circulation back in her leg, so amputation will not be required."

"That's good news," Mrs. Foster said with a smile.

"Several of the bones in her leg and ankle were also broken. We have it set right now, but she will be in a cast for a minimum of six weeks, depending on recovery."

"Will she walk?" Mr. Foster asked.

"We will see how far her recovery takes us," the doctor replied. "Since we were able to save the leg, we're confident she will regain the ability to walk. However, we have to wait for the swelling to go down and we need to wait to see how her body recovers before we can be sure what her mobility will look like. She may require a mobility device."

"But she's okay?" Sarah asked and the doctor nodded his head.

"She's okay. Overall, this was our expected outcome," he looked back to the Fosters, "We would like to keep her until the swelling goes down. Since a skin graft may be required and we would like to monitor the recovery for signs of infection. The sooner she receives treatment, the better. You are able to visit her right now, if you wish."

"I think she'll be happy to see you," Mrs. Foster said and let Sarah go with the doctor while she and her husband returned to update the rest of the Rangers.

-Ninja-Steel-

"Do you think we should offer to help?" Jenny asked her brother, looking to him from the stove as she prepared dinner.

"Sorry. What do you need help with?"

"Nothing," Jenny shook her head. "I meant the Fosters and Kelly. I don't know what kind of insurance Kelly is going to have, and I feel kind of back sticking all her medical bills on them."

"She's not our kid," Shane shrugged.

"I know, but she's Sarah's girlfriend. I really feel like we should be doing more. The Fosters have already taken her into their home. Having to cover all her medical bills, I think, is asking way too much of them."

"I guess that's the risk you take when you take in a kid," Shane said. "If anyone should feel guilty about this, though, it should be Kelly's parents. I don't care what you believe in. If your kid needs you, you need to be there for them."

"I don't think the Saunders would agree with you there. I doubt you can expect them to pay anything for Kelly, considering they think who she is is unforgivable."

"I know, I know."

"Should we offer to cover half?" Jenny asked. "I mean, I'd like to pay for all of it, but I hear she may need another surgery, and she'll be in the hospital a while and… I barely think I can afford half anyways."

"Why don't you leave that to me," Shane said. "Sarah mentioned this happened as part of a Ranger fight?"

"The earthquakes were caused by a monster targeting the school," Jenny nodded.

"Leave it up to me, then," Shane promised her. "I'll take care of it, financially."

"Wow. Does being a sensei for a secret academy really pay that well?"

"It doesn't, but it does give me some options," Shane said. "Is Sarah going to be home tonight?"

"She's staying at the hospital," Jenny shook her head. "Kelly was there when Sarah woke up from that poison. She wants to do the same."

"Cute," Shane smiled.

-Ninja-Steel-

Sarah tossed and turned in her hospital chair. They really needed to be more comfortable for the overnight guests. She had been offered a guest room, but Sarah couldn't imagine Kelly waking up in the middle of the night, in pain and alone.

She had a blanket to cover her, but it wasn't enough. And the chair was too hard for her to feel remotely comfortable for more than a minute. At best, Sarah imagined she got fifteen minutes of sleep, despite how tired she felt.

"Stupid hospitals," she grumbled. She was no stranger to hospitals, but usually, she was in the bed, which admittedly, wasn't all that comfortable either. She had always been a risk-taker. She liked getting her adrenaline pumping, so she was always climbing trees or participating in sports. When she was old enough to start working on inventions and experiments in the garage, she had a few accidents that required stitches and some that led to infections, (at least until she learned how to properly clean her equipment). She would probably need two hands to count the number of nights she stayed in the hospital.

This was her first time not being in the bed, though. Whenever she had been in the hospital, she always imagined it was better to be in the chair. If you were in the chair, you weren't sick, hurt or dying. All you had to do was watch over the person who was sick, hurt, or dying, and occasionally call for a nurse for them.

However, in the chair now, Sarah wished she was the one in the best. She wished it was her who was sick, hurt, or dying. She couldn't imagine Kelly's pain and there was nothing she could do about it. Sitting in the chair was all she could do. That upset her more than being sick, hurt, or dying.

Just as Sarah felt sleep starting to come to her, she heard a pained groan. Her eyes shot open and she stood up from the chair. She leaned over the bed and smiled as Kelly. She put a button in her hand.

"They gave you the good stuff," she told her girlfriend. "You've got morphine if you need it."

"I need it," Kelly said and pushed the button. Relief instantly washed over her.

"I guess it'd be a stupid question to ask if it hurts," Sarah said and Kelly nodded her head.

"You'd win the stupid award if you asked it," Kelly said. "It's still there, though, right?"

"They saved it, yeah," Sarah smiled. "I wouldn't look at it right now, but it is there."

"I trust you. Will I still be able to use it?"

"For the most part. I might, you might not be running marathons any time soon."

"That's more your thing anyways," Kelly chuckled. "I'm more of a… not marathon runner."

"You should get some rest," Sarah said. "I'll be here if you need anything."

"Sounds good," Kelly nodded and closed her eyes. Sleep came to her easily. Sarah wished she could be so lucky as she sat back down in the chair.


End file.
